VI. Jesus Meets Veronica
Veronica had been with Jesus as he taught, cured the sick, and announced the kingdom. Jesus had become the center of her life. Now she saw him cruelly pulled away from her. She was overwhelmed with grief and agony and wanted to do something. When she saw him coming close, she broke through the crowds and covered his sweat- and blood-stained face with her veil. Jesus responded to this act of love and mourning by leaving there the image of his face—the face of a dislocated humanity. Jesus’ face is the face of every man and woman who suffers separation, segregation, and displacement. Veronica is the woman of sorrow; a sorrow that pierces the heart with immense pain; a sorrow that is being suffered all over the world by women of countless nationalities, races and social conditions. The agonizing question:” Why have they taken my child, my husband, my friend away?” can be heard as a scream resounding in all the corners of our world. . . . The thirst for communion is evoked every time I look at Veronica’s veil with the face of Christ on it and the faces of all whom I love . . . and the pain deepens as I grow older. . . . Jesus looks at me and seals my heart with the imprint of his face. I will always keep searching, always waiting, always hoping. His suffering face does not allow me to despair.
Excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s Walk with Jesus, Orbis Books. Posted with the kind permission of the publisher.
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February 29th, 2008 @ 8:06 pm
Thank you, Sharon…that was very helpful. The only reason I am willing to go through the isolation and lonliness, is just that…relationship with Him.
February 28th, 2008 @ 8:37 am
Veronica’s veil and the imprint of Jesus’ face on the veil. It really is a marriage we go through. I’ve found, over the years, that my experience of isolation and loneliness happens also right in the faith community. That, to me, is the most painful and wrenching truth of all. Some question will come up for discussion and everyone all around will seem to have perfect faith and trust and the easy time and I will feel absolutely wretched and outside. My only hope is the lifting of the veil from my own face and receiving the imprint of Jesus’ face on it. And what joy comes from receiving that imprint and just adoring Him. It strengthens my faith and helps me to live through every adversity that comes into my life.
February 27th, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
Veronica, thought to be the woman Jesus healed, is reported at this station of the cross to have broken through the crowd, seen Jesus, wiped his face with her veil and found an imprint left on the veil. Nouwen’s perspective is one of anguish. There are fleeting moments in which we have fleeting moments of contact – like Veronica with Christ – but anguish for deep, meaningful communion. And isn’t that what a Lenten season is about – getting beyond the fleeting moments, denying ourselves those things – food/activities – that we use to substitute for quality time with Jesus – and spending 40 days in identification with Christ in the wilderness just to get to know Him on a deeper level? How is it happening in your life today during this Walk With Jesus?